Making a Perfect Annual Appeal DonorPoint Fundraising Tips -

In addition to capturing your work and mission — whether your nonprofit is a school, church or religious organization, museum or cultural institution — your Annual Appeal serves as a primary tool for communicating a bold and exciting plan for the future of your organization. Your Appeal is a chance to tell your audience:

What you’ve accomplished in the previous year
What you hope to accomplish going forward, and most importantly…
Demonstrate your need for their support in order to successfully serve your mission

Typically conducted once a year (for schools, usually towards the end of the school year….or for others at the end of the calendar year, when nearly 1/3rd of annual giving occurs), the Annual Appeal is the definitive opportunity to solicit support from existing and potential donors. Appeals can take on a number of mediums: email, direct mail, social media, and in-person or virtual events — with some using some combination of these. A well-executed Annual Appeal can significantly contribute to a nonprofit’s financial stability and its ability to achieve its goals.

Here are some tried-and-true tips on crafting the perfect Annual Appeal – which goes a long way towards funding critical infrastructure for your nonprofit.

ANNUAL APPEALS ARE IMPERATIVE

In addition to supporting your mission, your nonprofit needs to ‘keep the lights on’ like any for-profit entity. Administrative expenses — for staff salaries, office space, insurance, computers, software subscriptions, accounting and legal fees, advertising and marketing costs, maintenance and repairs — can take up as much as half of a nonprofit’s operating budget. Oftentimes, proceeds from certain fundraising channels (Events, Raffles and Auctions, etc.) are restricted to exclusively supporting the specific need for which the initiative was built. An Annual Appeal is a flagship in soliciting donations to pay for the necessary infrastructure of a nonprofit. Without these ‘costs of doing business’ receiving adequate support, execution of the your mission cannot sustain.

WHY DO MANY ANNUAL APPEALS FALL SHORT?

Simply put, many Annual Appeals simply aren’t ‘scratching’ potential donors where they ‘itch’ — or overcoming objections the prospect might have that are standing in the way of their support. The Appeal is addressing a nonprofit’s ENTIRE DONOR POOL — but not taking the steps to make them more of a one-on-one interaction. Donors wants to feel that their gift is important, meaningful and necessary to address your mission; they are why you’re able to do the work you do. Many Appeals don’t properly communicate this, and therefore fall short of expectations.

HOW TO PERFECT YOUR APPEAL

Following are a handful of simple yet important strategies to help make your Annual Appeal the most compelling ask it can be:

1) EMPHASIZE THE IMPACT OF YOUR DONORS’ SUPPORT

Put your mission front and center in your donor’s mind; your work is important, and many rely on it to survive and thrive. Likewise, supporting cause is critical to continue to help those in need, and contributions to your Annual Appeal ensures that you will.

Tell your prospects what a $1 (or $10, or $100) donation accomplishes, so they can visualize how their gift can provide tangible impact. Many foodbanks lead with a ‘$1 provides X meals’ impact statement; that declaration allows the potential donor to look at the dollar in their hand and link their donation to the help that dollar can deliver.

Finally, consider sharing a brief but compelling personal impact story of a life transformed by your nonprofit’s work (just make sure to get all necessary approvals from the subjects you’re highlighting first). Sharing a narrative as part of your Annual Appeal can go a long way in underscoring the crucial need for support.

2) USE VIDEO TO DRIVE YOUR APPEAL HOME

In a survey of nearly 700 marketers and small business owners by leading video producer Biteable, 68% said that video provides a better ROI than GoogleAds, and 74% said it brings a better ROI than static imagery. And research by HubSpot shows that 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support.

In an increasingly visual world (compounded with messaging clutter that’s at an all-time high combined with a shrinking attention span), hundreds of studies just like these lend credence to the fact that video has surpassed the written word as a favored manner of content consumption. It requires less effort for the audience to consume, and you can more readily control the effect of your content when you present it to them.

3) OFFER AREAS OF DESIGNATION FOR POTENTIAL DONORS

One of our clients — a high school — executed an Appeal targeted to parents, alumni and other school benefactors to kick off the year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary. Rather than simply ask its populations to donate to its Annual Fund and be done with it, the school themed its campaign around ‘Areas of Celebration’ that donors could choose to enhance with their gift: Making Education Affordable, Celebrating Our Alumni, Excellence in Athletics, Embracing Fine & Performing Arts. Through these designations, alumni can re-live their high school experiences via a donation in support of an integral part of their time as a student, and parents can direct their aid toward areas of impact near and dear to their children.

**4) BRAND YOUR APPEAL….AND RUN IT THROUGH MULTIPLE CHANNELS**

Donation forms branded with your organization’s logo, corporate colors and skinning can help you raise up to 7 times more than a generic donation page. Donors may become wary of any part of your Annual Appeal (website URL, web/landing pages, donation forms) that references an entity other than your own. They may start to wonder ‘who is getting this donation….the nonprofit or a middle man?’ Or they may be concerned that the middle man is getting a portion of the donation that’s exclusively intended for you. Either scenario leads to confusion, potential distrust, and lower donation conversion rates.

Make sure all the elements of your campaign look like yours — not anyone else’s. And take advantage of all the channels available to you — printed mailings and postcards (with reply postage included for the gift), email, website, video, mobile, and all social media platforms you use — to create an aligned, cohesive Appeal.

5) LEVERAGE THE STRONGEST CONNECTIONS TO YOUR ORGANIZATION

Think about what makes a prospect feel special about your cause, and merchandise that in your content. If you’re fundraising for a school, what are the strongest links your alumni might have to your institution? Use teachers and coaches who have made a difference in students’ formative years in your messaging; a personal story and ask from them may be the push your prospect needs to donate. If you have a Board of Directors, use them as your ambassadors, leveraging their extensive professional contacts to broaden the reach of your appeal.

If you’d like to discuss the strengths of your Annual Appeal and ways you can make it better, please reach out to us!